Centurions of the Sable Star of Ansteorra

The badge for the Centurions.

Centurions Page on the Ansteorra Website

The Order of the Centurions of the Sable Star is a Grant Level award given in the Kingdom of Ansteorra for excellence on the field in the Chivalric arts.

General Information:

The Centurions of the Sable Star of Ansteorra are those individuals who have been recognized for their leadership on the field of battle in Chivalric Combat. The Centurions are a polling order.

Award Constitution:

"There shall exist in Ansteorra an order unto which the Crown shall select persons who have demonstrated all of the following qualities:

• Exceptional leadership, skill and honor in chivalric combat.
• Service to Ansteorra and its people;
• Knowledge of the courtly graces; and
• Obedience to the laws and ideals of Ansteorra and of the Society for Creative Anachronism.

This Order shall be known as the Order of the Centurions of the Sable Star..."

History

The Order of the Centurions of the Sable Star is an award that was created by the 30th Crown of Ansteorra, Inman and Athena.

Precedence

Companions of the Order shall take precedence after all nobility and peerage and before simple Grants of Rank. The Order of the White Scarf, Star of Merit, Iris of Merit, Centurions of the Sable Star, Arc d'Or of Ansteorra, and Golden Lance of Ansteorra are held to be of equal precedence.

Membership:

"The First Century"
"The Second Century"

Insignia:

The badge of the order is: Fieldless on an eagle displayed Or a mullet of five greater and five lesser points sable. Companions of the Order are entitled place the initials CSS or the word "Centurion" after their names, to be addressed with the title "Centurion", and to wear, either on the right calf or above the left elbow, a ribbon Or edged gules charged with a sable Ansteorran star. (Companions who joined the order prior to September 2002 may choose to wear the original ribbon sable edged Or charged with an Or Ansteorran Star.)

The Specifics of the Cloak Design:

Her Excellency, Mistress Dunstana Talana the Violet provided this information:
“I do not know how many of the first cloaks are still around and honestly, when Centurion Colin ui Niall commissioned his, I had never seen one, so I had only the official description to work with. Some other artisans have used the eagle I designed for Centurion Colin, but you can tell who made them by how the straps are attached. My drawing was also used by Master Drixos to make the Centurion trim he sells, and has popped up in other places, too. I get a kick out of that.

The cloak I designed - a red semi-circle with a Germanic eagle, and two yellow straps tab-ended to the cloak, is popular, and has variants, but is not the only design out there. I made it to go with Centurion Colin's Landschneckt fighting garments. Centurions Tarl and Thorgrim have Nordic-artwork eagles. Sir Modius has a black-and-white cloak (of course). One gentleman (I don't know his name) has a templar-style long red cloak with the eagle on the left breast. This fall Thorvald asked me to make a Norse-style cloak with an eagle adapted from a depiction of a raven. It looks awesome, I must say.”

The Original Cloaks

The Order of the Centurion of the Sable Star of Ansteorra was created by Duke Inman and Countess Athena. The award constitution was read into law on June 18, 1994, and was a complete surprise to the recipients. The "First Six" were Daniel Blackaxe, Hakon de Decker, Pepin Moroni, Robin of Gilwell, Thorgard inn Svarti, and Vlad Ravna Starkraven. At that time, no insignia was available. The cloaks were later created by Treschen of Mooneschadowe, and presented by Treschen and Talan to the Order, at the stepping down of Mikhail / Coronation of Mahdi I. (January 8, 1997) The original cloaks have been passed down numerous times. Notes below show whom received a cloak from one of the Original Six, and the date they were made a Centurion. Note that not all of the six were among those who received a cloak when they were presented in 1997.

• Daniel Blackaxe, 06/18/1994
  • Johann Gunnbjornson
    • Alard de Cambray
      • Ian Camber
        • Thorvald Egilsson

• Hakon de Decker, 06/18/1994

• Pepin Moroni, 06/18/1994
  • Katrionna Heather MacLochlainn
    • Treschen von Asselen

• Robin of Gilwell, 06/18/1994
  • Miguel Sebastian de Oporto, 01/08/1997
    • Quintus Aurelius Dracontius, 07/27/1997
      • Gustav Hastings, 08/02/1999
        • Anton Swith, 11/10/2001
          • Louis le Blaireau, 01/29/2005
            • Daire de Haya, 09/03/2005
              • Lochlan Dunn, 05/11/2009
                • Gerhart Wolfgang der Rote, 1/16/2010

• Thorgard inn Svarti, 06/18/1994

Note: Thorgard states that he did not ever receive one of these Six Original cloaks. "I was not there when the cloaks were presented, and did not receive one. My first cloak, I made myself, before I was a Lion. I later gave it to Alfredo Gabriel Halcon. My second cloak was crafted with both the Eagle and the Lion."

• • Alfredo Gabriel Halcon

• Vlad Ravna Starkraven, 06/18/1994

Note: Vlad states, "I was, in fact, one of the first 6 Centurions created, but neither the cloaks nor even the eagle insignia existed at the time. As it happens, I didn't finally get a cloak until, I believe, 2 years ago at the Gulf War. A fellow Centurion had a spare and gave me one of hers. It took me so long to get one, I'm extremely reluctant to part with it. Prior to that time, I wore a tabbard that looked like a regular Ansteorran war tabbard in the front (gold with a black star), but had the Centurion eagle on the back."

Traditions:

“Off Their Backs, Not From The Crown”

It is Ansteorran tradition that the insignia of a Centurion – the red cloak worn – is never given out by the Crown, themselves….
Her Excellency, Mistress Dunstana Talana the Violet provided this information:
“At first, this meant that one Centurion always stepped forward to give his/her cloak to the one being elevated, then went and got themselves a new cloak; or that the newly elevated Centurion was given the order's garter, but instructed to get his/her own cloak.”

Kitchen Service

In the Northern Region, it is not uncommon to hear, "Centurions! To the Kitchen!" shouted out after feast - with the Order members stripping off their shirts and washing up all the dishes (oftentimes with voices raised in song).